Mistaken beliefs about a Rheumatoid Arthritis blog?

An RA blog does not cure everything

A crazy thing happened to me this weekend:
Saturday had me heading out twice to my two sons’ football games. While I was home for a while in between games, I was checking emails and replying to blog comments and tweets. That makes what happened even crazier…

While I was at the football games, I was stiff and hurting. I kept wanting to lie down on the bleachers. Here’s an example of my train of thought: No one understands. Will I have a fever for the rest of my life? How can I ever make it through this ball game?

At one point, I was walking to my car and my mind wandered to thoughts of what could be done until this thought came into my mind: I ought to start a blog. I entertained the thought for about a second. Of course, I have already tried that. I wonder whether the 20 days of fever are starting to affect my brain.

A Rheumatoid Arthritis blog does not fix anything

When Rheumatoid Arthritis attacked my feet, people would ask, “How are your feet?” Within a couple of weeks, I was answering like this, “Well, something’s happened to my knees, too, now…” Stop.

Right there is where it changes. There is a look of skepticism. And then there is obvious doubt.

I have been through this dozens of times. There are neighbors and church members and even family who seem unsure that Rheumatoid Arthritis is a bona fide illness or that it is half as bad as I say it is. I used to fantasize that writing a blog about Rheumatoid Arthritis would help me to communicate RA information in a way that would change their minds. I daydreamed that it would make a difference.

However, writing a blog does not cure this problem. Not much has changed: I still get those looks. Some people still avoid discussions of Rheumatoid Arthritis. I still suffer silently. And, apparently, I still daydream about starting an RA blog.